The Visual

1) Photographs constitue "evidence of not only what's there, but of what one individual sees, [capturing] not just a record, but an evaluation of the world." Susan Sontag, On Photography

2) A photograph "cannot create a moral positon . . . [but it] can reinforce one--and can help build a nascent one." Susan Sontag, On Photography

3) "It will not always be possible to link this authenticity with reportage [and] at this point captions must begin to function." Walter Benjamin, "A Short History of Photography"

As these quotations indicate, photographs provide an interpretation of the world, representing a particular point of view. Often this perspective is further reinforced through the use of explanatory text, material which narrates the pictorial content, obscuring any gap between what the viewer sees and the "correct" interpretation (what Roland Barthes refers to as the "suture" effect). The site contains many examples of this phenomenon, exhibiting a tension between its ideological position (e.g., a moral stance) and its desire to remain "objective" or neutral. For example, here is a picture:

Do you notice anything? Now visit the original picture as it is placed in context at the site. The context makes quite a difference. Accounts of postmodernity argue that an "objective" viewpoint cannot be established; we need to find a particular viewpoint, keeping in mind that there are other ways of looking at a given subject. The visual information contained in pictures is no longer as reassuring as it once was.

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